


Feeling Something New

by ShandyCandy278



Series: Undertale One-Shots [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: And Ly_the_Creator, And Suo-kumi, And everyone who has mentioned this to me, Angst, Attempted Suicide, Crying, Cuddles, Error helps him, Fluff, For inspiring me to write this, Gaining A Soul, He doesn't know what he's feeling, He doesn't really know what to do, Hurt/Comfort, I blame ToasterTale for this, Ink gets a soul, Ink has a soul now, Ink likes listening to Error's soul, Ink needs all the hugs and love, Ink's Struggling, M/M, Panic Attacks, Poor Ink, They're being sappy, Unnamed Feelings, give him hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShandyCandy278/pseuds/ShandyCandy278
Summary: Ink had a soul now.He didn't know how or why- just that it was given to him, and that it was his now.He had never thought that it would feel like this, though.
Relationships: Errink
Series: Undertale One-Shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587931
Comments: 38
Kudos: 345





	Feeling Something New

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy!

He…

He had it.

He- He finally had one.

A _soul._

The precious little thing was floating in front of his chest, summoned by himself _from his own body._ He cradled it in his hands, the fragile, beating soul emitting a warmth he had never known before. 

Well, as far as he could remember, but that didn’t matter now.

_Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-Thump_

His smile grew genuinely wider as he closed his eyes- listening to the beautiful melody it played. It was strong, and with so much potential! There was so much room for growth!

It was all _his._

Every single atom, every last speck of magic, was _his._

And he was going to cherish it.

* * *

It was surprising when it first started.

He didn’t know when, or how, or even why, really. He had just finished talking to Dream about his new soul and what he had done during the few hours since he had woken up (which was basically tell all of his friends about what had happened), and now it was his turn for him to listen as Dream talked. His friend was talking about something that was happy and joyous, and it made him happy too.

Yet… his soul hurt.

He flinched at the harsh twinge of pain he felt- bending over and placing his hand to his chest. It wasn’t actually that bad, he had felt worse pains before while fighting Error and Nightmare and protecting the Multiverse, but it was… _unexpected._

“Ink?” Dream asked, worried. “Are you okay?”

“I’m…” Ink frowned. “Fine? I think? My soul did something weird…”

“Souls tend to feel like that, you know.” Dream smiled, but for whatever reason seeing it made Ink want to cry for him. About what, he didn't know- he just felt the need to cry for Dream.

“I knew that.” Ink huffed, slightly offended (which surprised him). “Why don’t you keep on talking about your day?”

“Are you sure you want me to?” Dream asked, and when he nodded, the Guardian let it drop. “Alright. Well, in that case…”

The next time it happened, only an hour later, it was worse. He couldn’t even name what the emotion was, it was so strong. It felt like it was swallowing up his very being and slowly dragging him into the depths of never-ending waters, and he unknowingly dwelt in it for a while before Cross snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“Hey, Ink, I’m talking to you.”

“Huh?” Ink blinked a few times, and Cross scowled in annoyance.

“I was asking if you were okay.” He admitted begrudgingly, much to Ink’s surprise. “You’re crying.”

“I…” Ink paused and raised his hands up to his cheeks. Indeed, they were wet with his tears. “Oh. I… didn’t realize.”

“Is something wrong?” Cross asked, almost indifferently, and another strong wave of that heavy feeling rolled through him. He didn’t understand it. “You can talk if you want to.”

“I… don’t even know if I can?” He half-asked, letting out a laugh that didn’t convince either of them. “A lot of this is new to me. I probably just need time.”

Unfortunately, time wasn’t a thing that he had because the next thing he knew, Nightmare was attacking an AU. He, Cross, Dream, and Blue all went forward to fight him, but the second he stepped into the AU all of the emotions that he had felt before crashed into him, along with several unnamed new ones. It resulted in him panicking and teleporting away to a random AU, and from there the emotion that he finally recognized as _guilt_ struck even harder.

The thing was, he couldn’t _understand!_ It had been fine before- _he_ had been fine before! What was there to be guilty about?! What was there to be scared about?! Today had been a normal day, so why did it feel like his soul was betraying him?!

It- It was supposed to _help_ him! Getting a soul was supposed to help him _understand-_ to help him _feel!_ It wasn’t supposed to do _this!_ It wasn’t supposed to hurt him!

_So why did it hurt?!_

When he came out of his panic again, he found himself hiding in the waterfall of a random AU instead of the surface timeline he had originally gone to after fleeing from Nightmare. He vaguely remembered trying to see if running would chase the feeling away, but then he had collapsed here and curled up on himself when it had followed him into this AU.

Slowly removing his hands from his skull, he decided that his next course of action was to sit there and try to make sense of all of this.

He had been happy earlier today, and everything had been going well for him, too! But then that weird feeling- guilt, he reminded himself- decided to pop up out of nowhere. 

Guilt wasn’t a proper response for those situations, though! His scarf even agreed with him! He should have been _happy!_

So why wasn’t he?

Another wave of guilt crushed him as he realized that he had abandoned his friends just as they were gearing up for battle, and he knew that laying here wasn’t the right response for that, either. Heck, running hadn’t been the correct choice at all!

When he tried to get up to leave and return to the fight though, something strange seized his soul- freezing his very core and making his breaths grow shorter and shorter as his thoughts slowly grew more and more incoherent.

When he could finally focus on his surroundings again, something clicked in his head.

“That-“ He swallowed, slowly sitting up and struggling to take deep breaths as tears fell down his cheeks, his vision blurry. “That’s got to be it. It’s- It’s the only reason why.”

It was the only reason that made sense in his frenzied state of mind. It was the only thing that was different this time around- the only thing that could be to blame. 

Souls weren’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t what he had wanted.

The soul that he had been given was faulty. 

It wasn’t working properly.

He couldn’t even understand it half the time, even when he was feeling the good emotions! It- it was _weird_ and did its own thing, and he _didn’t like it._

He found himself longing for his paints- for the ability to choose what he wanted to feel and to not have to feel so _confused_ anymore. He- he wanted it more than anything in the world!

He didn’t want to feel anymore!

The thought almost echoed around his head- like he had thought that exact same thing before. But that couldn’t have been true, because he would have remembered a time where he didn’t want to feel emotions of his own anymore…

Right?

Shaking his head idly, Ink wrapped his arms around himself. His paints just tasted like paint now- they didn’t work for him anymore. So long as he had this faulty soul, he couldn’t use them. He couldn’t go back to what he was familiar with. It wasn’t an option anymore.

…

…

…

Or was it?

Sniffing a little, he slowly used his hands to bring out his soul. He stared at it for a moment, trying his hardest to memorize every single little thing that he could about it. What it looked like, felt like, sounded like- he did his best to memorize it all.

And then, ever so slowly, he raised his hand up high.

There was only one way he would be able to get his paints back.

He summoned his magic in his raised hand, a sharp and inky bone forming inside of it. He took a deep breath, held it, and then slammed his arm down.

The bone never hit its target.

He blinked in surprise at the resistance he was met with- black, red, and yellow hands holding his wrists still. He looked up slowly, observing the scowling figure that towered over him as he stood, glitching in front of the shorter skeleton.

“And just _what_ do you think you’re doing?” Error asked, growling a little. The glitches were slowly building up by where their bones touched, but he was clearly ignoring it. 

“I… I-“ Ink swallowed, for once in his life realizing that he was _unsure_ about something before he spoke. “I’m destroying my soul.”

“Why?” He demanded, his scowl turning into a glare. “Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? Your very own soul?”

“I- It’s faulty.” He answered, lightly tugging on Error’s hands. They didn’t budge, even as he slowly began to shake. “I don’t want to feel anymore.”

“Why?” 

“I-I don’t understand!” He confessed. “It’s-It’s too confusing! Everything is so confusing! What- What am I supposed to be feeling right now?! Why aren’t I reacting the way I should?! Feeling the way I should?! I-I should be happy! And courageous! And silly! I- My soul’s faulty, Error! My soul has to have some kind of- some kind of glitch in it! My paints were doing fine! They aren’t confusing! I-I want my paints! I want to go back! I don’t- I can’t-“ He choked on the sobs that he was trying to suppress, his bones rattling as he began to descend into a panic for the fourth time that day. “Error- Error, let me- let me do this! Let me end it! I-I don’t want to feel! Not anymore! It’s too much! Let me end it! Let me stop feeling! Please, I don’t want to be like this!”

He was crying harder now, but not once did Error move or say anything. He stood there in silence and watched as Ink slowly started to cry himself into exhaustion, tugging at Error’s hands and begging him all the while to let him end it. Only once Ink had finally seemed to calm again did Error let go of one of his wrists. He slowly intertwined their fingers and used Ink’s hand to push Ink’s soul back into his chest. The magic that Ink had summoned to stab his own soul with faded away, and it was only then that he realized that he didn’t even have the energy to move.

Luckily, his boyfriend seemed to catch onto that, because he slowly sat down next to Ink and lifted the skeleton into his lap, brushing the tears that didn’t seem to stop falling off of his face with a hesitant caress.

“Error…”

“Shut up.” He held onto him tighter, and Ink discovered that one of the emotions that he was feeling was worry as he watched the glitches grow in number. There was also a really warm feeling that was building up and making his soul flutter, but he tried to ignore the pleasant feeling. It was a painful contrast to the rest of his emotions, and he didn’t want to try to figure out what it was right now. “Just- shut up you idiot. Your stupid soul isn’t faulty, your paints were.” Ink made a small noise of confusion, so Error continued.

“Ink, souls don’t listen to what you want to do. They kinda… do their own thing. Which is stupid, I’m not gonna lie, but that’s how it’s always been. It’s why there are crazy idiots running rampant in the Multiverse. You’re the only one who ever had control over what you felt.” Error lowered one of his hands and placed it on Ink’s chest, and Ink slowly, hesitantly, placed his own hand on top of his. “Your soul is fine. Your reactions are normal. You just need to get used to it, and whatever it is that your feeling will pass with time. You just need to be patient.”

Ink grimaced, he didn’t like that idea, and unconsciously nuzzled his face into Error’s chest. Error glitched at the contact, so Ink swiftly stopped once he got comfortable. He listened to the staticky, abnormal beating of Error’s own soul, calming down even further. It was more soothing than hearing his own, and he had memorized its sounds long ago, back when Error had first agreed to try holding him like this. He let a small smile come to his face, sniffing a little.

“I like yours better.” He decided. Error scoffed.

“Of course you do. Mine’s the best soul out there.” Then he hummed, leaning down on Ink as he slowly relaxed. “But I’m sure you’ll eventually grow to love yours too, squid. You’re just that sappy.”

“But you love me.” He looked up at him, that warmth growing and surging over the other hurtful emotions in his soul. It was… hopeful(?) and giddy(?), and he found he actually liked it a lot. A smile grew on his face as he giggled a little, saying it again in a soft and amazed whisper. “You love me.”

“Don’t make me regret it.” Error scoffed, raising a browbone down at him. Ink understood the confusion, he didn’t know why he had reacted like that either, but it made his soul flutter even harder. It wasn’t the same as the harsh beating that came with negative emotions, and he found that he liked it a lot. He hummed again, happy as he closed his eyes and relaxed.

“Okay.” He agreed, trying to memorize this new feeling. He hadn’t quite felt it before, and it was really nice and soothing. It reminded him of earlier that day, when he had found out he had been given a soul. He liked these feelings more, he decided. The others had been too much, too soon. He didn’t ever want to feel them again.

But of course, as they sat there in silence, the guilty feeling slowly crawled back to him. It made his soul race in an uncomfortable way, and he squirmed a little at the feeling.

“I…” He took a deep breath. “I’m supposed to be fighting Nightmare right now.” But he didn’t want to- many somethings were begging for him to stay here in Error’s arms and never leave, and he was shocked when he found that he agreed with them.

“He can go screw himself.” Error made a face and held Ink a little tighter. “I’m not letting you do that, and you’re not in good shape to do it either.” 

“Error,” Ink began slowly, amused and a little more than just confused (although he was glad Error wasn’t forcing him to leave). “I can lift more than you.”

“I’m not talking about strength.” A finger tapped the back of his skull. “I’m talking about your state of mind and soul. You just had a panic attack and almost killed yourself, and I’d bet all of my G that you had at least one other panic attack before this, too.”

“I…” Ink blinked slowly, frowning as his mind processed Error’s words. “Had a panic attack?” 

“Yeah.” Error nodded, his glitching voice as smooth and soft as it could be, and Ink found that he wouldn’t mind listening to it all day. “You’re not in a good mental state to fight anyone, _especially_ Nightmare of all people. He'll suck all of that up like a leach and make you feel even worse. Your friends can handle themselves, anyway.” Error rested his skull down on top of Ink’s, and it was then that Ink realized that he was purring- just the tiniest bit. That combined with his words brought that weird, warm feeling back ten-fold, and he sighed happily. 

Error was speaking the truth- his friends knew how to handle themselves. He could apologize and try to explain it to them later. 

“Okay.”

“Is there anything that you want to do?” Error asked after a few moments of silence, but it was such a soft whisper that it lulled him instead of keeping him awake. “Anything that you need?” Ink was already shaking his head, his breathing slowly evening out at he basked in the warmth.

“I just wanna stay like this.” He confessed, his voice a sleepy whisper as his eye sockets slowly closed, too heavy to keep open. “Please?”

“For as long as I can, Ink.” Error promised, softly pressing a kiss to his head as Ink began to descend into the land of dreams. “For as long as I can.”


End file.
